I wonder,though, if the sisters did get to their house, and just stopped in for a brief time.With the intention of returning later on that afternoon.And then they went back out...somewhere. Given that it was about a 15 minute walk, and they were seen going in the direction of their house at around 2 :30pm, one would believe that this would have had them at their house at around 3pm ... Mr.Lyon would probably have just missed them, if this was the case.
Otherwise, one is left to believe that they were abducted from a quiet suburban area in the middle of the day. And no one saw or heard anything ? The houses seem very close together for this to be the case ... Just some thoughts...
It is, by my own measurement, a fifteen minute walk (at a brisk pace without pausing) from the old Wards back door of Wheaton Plaza to the Lyon house on Plyers Mill Road.
However, you cannot accurately pinpoint a time when the girls might have arrived home based on the possible sighting of them at "Drumm near Devin". The sighting was somewhat questionable (by police) at the time and later. And the time of the sighting was only a rough estimate by two teenaged boys - given several days after the event.
It was reported that they saw the girls walking down Drumm some time between 2:30 and 3:00PM that afternoon. Let's assume for the sake of discussion that it was a true and accurate sighting... From that point, assuming that they continued walking without delay or detour, it probably would have been another 10 minutes to their home. This would give them an estimated time of arrival (ETA) of between 2:40 and 3:10 PM.
There is no evidence, however, that they ever reached home. Certain indications, such as leaving a purchase or receipt at home, changing clothes from what they had been wearing, making a phone call, leaving a note, etc were just not there.
Other questions remain unanswered - such as:
Exactly who (if anyone) was home at that time?
Was the door left unlocked or did they have a key?
Did anyone see them there?
You are correct, then, in stating that "one is left to believe that they were abducted from a quiet suburban area in the middle of the day."
You are also very correct in stating that the houses along the girls supposed route were (and are) very close together. Also, there were no big gaps or vacant lots between those houses (then or now).
That is - house spacing is very close UNTIL you reach the corner of Drumm and McComas. At that point (then and now) Drumm only continues for a short distance before being blocked off to Vehicle traffic for a few hundred feet. Only pedestrian traffic can get through. Drumm then resumes to vehicle traffic, but only from Plyers Mill Road. To get from one end of the blocked off area of Drumm to the other would involve a LOT of driving around on neighborhood roads and the possibility of getting lost or turned around is high.
Also at that same corner of Drumm and McComas was where a foot path through a wooded area began, and that foot path would have taken them diagonally to Jennings Road, emerging from the woods very near their own house. (Note: that foot path is no longer in existance, and there are now homes and fences where that wood lot used to be.)
So... If a perpetrator USING a VEHICLE was going to abduct the girls - in that suburban neighborhood - he would have had to do so at one of only three places:
1. On Drumm Ave (between Devin and McComas) in front of a large number of closely spaced houses and potential eyewitnesses.
2. At the corner of Drumm and McComas where there are fewer houses, but before the girls entered a walking only area.
3. On Jennings Rd, in sight of a number of closely spaced houses and within a few hundred feet of their own home. (and this only after having driven around in a maze of winding roads, and relying on perfect timing and pure luck).
The first scenario above would have to occur within only a few minutes of three eyewitnesses (two in a car and one in his house) having seen the girls. A potential abductor in a vehicle would have been driving behind the two boys who reported seeing them. Such a person would have had to wait for the boys' car to exit the area, and that would have meant having to drive to McComas before making his move.
The second scenario above, while still risky, would have been the best choke point to intercept or wait for the girls - he wouldn't have to follow behind them. This spot provided a quick escape route either with or without the girls in his vehicle. Access to this corner was available without driving down Drumm, and he could position his vehicle in any desired direction and position.
If he did not know exactly where the girls lived, he would not know exactly which direction or route they would have traveled from this intersection, and the visibility from houses was limited here. Therefor, waiting at Drumm and McComas, would have allowed him an opportunity to abduct the girls, NO MATTER which route they intended to travel.
On the other, hand, IF HE DID KNOW where they lived, he would know that at this point, he could offer them a viable story or enticement into his vehicle - because he knew that they were still some distance from their home AND that this WAS the best possible site to attempt the abduction.
The third scenario above would only have been possible if the abductor KNEW girls and exactly where they lived, and if he knew not only the maze of roads - but also the foot path and where it began and emerged from the woods. He would have to have been highly skilled in the art of road rally calculation to have achieved success in Controlled Time of Arrival.
He would also have to be willing to take a tremendous risk of being seen and recognized by anyone on Jennings Road - including possibly the girls family members. In short, he would have to have been highly skilled and fearless, and ultimately very, very LUCKY to have pulled off an abduction on Jennings Road. This third scenario, therefor, is most unlikely.
In conclusion, I believe that the girls were in fact abducted in broad daylight that afternoon. If not in the Wheaton Plaza parking lot, then at the corner of Drumm and McComas.